-
Welcome to BradleyFans.com! Visitors are welcome, but we encourage you to sign up and register as a member. It's free and takes only a few seconds. Just click on the link to Register at the top right of the page, and follow instructions. If you have any problems or questions, click on the link at the bottom right of the page to Contact Us.
Bradley 2024 freshman enrollment
- Thread starter yoda
- Start date
It is a common challenge for smaller schools, and especially for private universities. The cost of education has skyrocketed, and with inflation and other concerns, the cost of tuition can be prohibitive. Declining birthrate the last 15-20 years is also a factor.
But it is also a problem with leadership, which is being addressed.
There are numerous articles about this. Here are a few-
>> https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/13/us/private-colleges-closing-enrollment-decline/index.html
>> https://www.bestcolleges.com/research/college-enrollment-decline/
>> https://www.chicagobusiness.com/cra...versities-student-population-enrollment-cliff
>> https://thehill.com/changing-americ...lment-could-take-a-big-hit-in-2025-heres-why/
PhiAlphaBoy
New member
This is correct, but I think the retentions numbers took a big hit which nullified these gains.
there's a trend downward at some schools, but it is not happening everywhere
In fact, it is being reported that the number of people enrolling as undergrads nationally is UP considerably - https://www.forbes.com/sites/michae...76000-undergraduates-according-to-new-report/
a higher pct of private school enrollees depend on financial aid and the feds are sabotaging the small private schools - https://www.universityherald.com/ar...cause-small-colleges-cut-budgets-programs.htm
Illinois State sees largest freshman class in 36 years - https://news.illinoisstate.edu/2023...nt/#:~:text=Illinois State sees largest fresh man%20class%20in%2036%20years%2C%20continued%20str ong%20enrollment,-By%20University%20Staff&text=Illinois%20State%20Un iversity%20welcomed%204%2C147,incoming%20class%20i n%2036%20years.
Freshmen Enrollment Increases at Illinois Public Universities for Third Consecutive Year - https://www.illinois.gov/news/press-release.27242.html
New year, new record: University of Cincinnati hits biggest enrollment in school history - https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/hamilton-county/cincinnati/new-year-new-record-university-of-cincinnati-hits-biggest-enrollment-in-school-history#:~:text=Contributing%20to%20that%20number% 20is,said%20in%20a%20press%20release.
George Mason - largest freshman class ever - https://www.gmu.edu/news/2022-08/ma...e-freshman-class-date-new-student-convocation
meanwhile, Bradley freshman enrollment is down over 30% in the last 2-year span.
Bradley has been pretty quiet regarding their freshmen enrollment numbers, probably because they are extremely disappointing.
However, they finally posted a "cryptic" accounting of freshman enrollment on their website by saying:
"First-year Student enrollment: 1027, Transfer enrollment: 185"
Thus, the freshman enrollment is 842.
Recall that when freshman enrollment plummeted under Glasser, Roberts quickly got the freshman enrollment back up over 1,250,
and it stayed there his entire tenure.... and it wasn't because BU lowered academic standards - they actually had the highest GPA's and SAT scores ever ( https://www.bradleyfans.com/forum/s...-bradley-freshman-enrollment/page3#post465087 )
This is 100% on Standifird.
https://www.bradleyfans.com/forum/s...ll-fan-talk/26004-bradley-freshman-enrollment
https://www.bradleyfans.com/forum/s...-bradley-freshman-enrollment/page3#post465087
https://www.bradleyfans.com/forum/s...-bradley-freshman-enrollment/page3#post455115
BUBraves2006
New member
I am about as proud of a Bradley alum as it gets and I can say that I would have definitively had my kids not attend school at BU the past few years based upon the COVID policies that were in place during the outgoing president's tenure. They were appalling at the time and history (I hope) will look back at that time and recognize how significant of a folly it was for the decisions that were made across the country at so many colleges, including Bradley. Good riddance to that man.
I recognize these past mistakes don't apply now for 2024, but I do think some people have soured on college in general because what has happened the last few years. Combine that with the rising costs and other reasons others have put it on the table and it really makes you wonder how it's all sustainable in the long run.
At times, I yearn for the days when I was at BU and I was blissfully ignorant about the world and I could just worry about the next class/party/basketball game.
I recognize these past mistakes don't apply now for 2024, but I do think some people have soured on college in general because what has happened the last few years. Combine that with the rising costs and other reasons others have put it on the table and it really makes you wonder how it's all sustainable in the long run.
At times, I yearn for the days when I was at BU and I was blissfully ignorant about the world and I could just worry about the next class/party/basketball game.
Stryker
New member
Amen to that brother. I am beginning to think higher education is on its last legs, and it would not surprise me if the entire system came crashing down in the next 5-10 years. Especially with the direction AI is going in regards to education, along with the current demographics of the country and other factors. I know I will not be recommending my boys go to college unless they are shoe in for major scholarships and want to study engineering or med or something. I will be working to get them set up as skilled tradesmen instead.
bradleyfan124
Active member
I recommended to both my boys that they go into the trades. Neither one did. One became a private detective and the other one coached college basketball for a few years then joined a sporting goods company. Shows how much they listened to me.
How many are old enough to remember that ANY tiny piece of negative news at Bradley back in 1999 thru 2009
got reported extensively and even became headline news? Stories about players getting in trouble - even an ordinance violation,
stories about disgruntled players making up complete lies- yet getting front page reporting, slight attendance drops, even the local sports writers publishing completely fabricated claims that got 100% refuted by the sources they claimed gave them the story,
yet they wouldn't apologize for their lies (like TCS being promised playing time, like Cellus' father claiming the Bradley'staff
had tampered with him at Iowa, like failed drug tests, & KK was the one who cancelled all the long time preseason events such as Itoo, & like the lies about Maniscalco or Taylor Brown)
And yet - when freshman enrollment under Glasser fell to a 40-year low of 950, it all got explained away as NOT her fault and
a million other excuses & alibis got spewed by PJS.
But now freshman enrollment drops another 100 or more and not a single word or mention from our local news media. Even worse -
in their last mention of enrollment, they even try to point back and claim "Bradley is reeling from a combination of steady enrollment decline and a longstanding financial woes"
NO - freshman enrollment was over 1,200 for almost the entire span that Gary Roberts was President & Bradley was fiscally stable and improving.
Then he handed off to Liberty & Standifird and now they're at historically low enrollment levels, shutting down programs and laying off staff.
Please, PJS, stop lying and covering for their incompetent leadership of, first, Joanne Glasser & now Standifird.
Bradley should be thriving -
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/grea...yuniversity-activity-7211039229890502658-1Sf7
got reported extensively and even became headline news? Stories about players getting in trouble - even an ordinance violation,
stories about disgruntled players making up complete lies- yet getting front page reporting, slight attendance drops, even the local sports writers publishing completely fabricated claims that got 100% refuted by the sources they claimed gave them the story,
yet they wouldn't apologize for their lies (like TCS being promised playing time, like Cellus' father claiming the Bradley'staff
had tampered with him at Iowa, like failed drug tests, & KK was the one who cancelled all the long time preseason events such as Itoo, & like the lies about Maniscalco or Taylor Brown)
And yet - when freshman enrollment under Glasser fell to a 40-year low of 950, it all got explained away as NOT her fault and
a million other excuses & alibis got spewed by PJS.
But now freshman enrollment drops another 100 or more and not a single word or mention from our local news media. Even worse -
in their last mention of enrollment, they even try to point back and claim "Bradley is reeling from a combination of steady enrollment decline and a longstanding financial woes"
NO - freshman enrollment was over 1,200 for almost the entire span that Gary Roberts was President & Bradley was fiscally stable and improving.
Then he handed off to Liberty & Standifird and now they're at historically low enrollment levels, shutting down programs and laying off staff.
Please, PJS, stop lying and covering for their incompetent leadership of, first, Joanne Glasser & now Standifird.
Bradley should be thriving -
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/grea...yuniversity-activity-7211039229890502658-1Sf7
bradleyfan124
Active member
I think more so is that fact that local news is dying. Just look at the PJstar or any of the local news channels. They are a shell of what they used to be. Whether those stores in the past were true or false they got some attention. That is just the way news is now, "clickbait" gets just as much attention as real investigative journalism.
One more thing just, my two cents. Why did the PJS axe their extremely popular message boards?
For almost 25 years they hosted forums and many of those who used the site were loyal readers &
subscribers. Why did they close it down?
How much does it cost to run a message board? Many run essentially free or are covered by ad revenue.
The PJS could have used the site to promote their news coverage, to promote events they gain ad revenue from
and to stimulate interest in their product. It was a unique way of reaching and interacting directly with the people
they claim to serve. But even the most expensive platforms that operate message boards
are still only a couple hundred $$/year, so why did they snub/insult literally ten thousand of their loyal users?
Seems that they don't care about the local community and local news coverage. They sold out to a big management
corporation and fired nearly all their local staff. They brought in an editor who had little familiarity with Peoria nor did he
seem to have any affinity for it. He made zero effort to hide the fact that his entire push for the PJStar was to make it
nothing more than a banner for DEI & diversity - https://www.pjstar.com/story/opinio...ches-for-perfect-mix-of-diversity/5661037001/
Heck, if a mid-sized city newspaper desperately WANTED to
alienate their readers & subscribers and do the worst job possible so that throngs of subscribers would
cancel they couldn't have done a better job.
For almost 25 years they hosted forums and many of those who used the site were loyal readers &
subscribers. Why did they close it down?
How much does it cost to run a message board? Many run essentially free or are covered by ad revenue.
The PJS could have used the site to promote their news coverage, to promote events they gain ad revenue from
and to stimulate interest in their product. It was a unique way of reaching and interacting directly with the people
they claim to serve. But even the most expensive platforms that operate message boards
are still only a couple hundred $$/year, so why did they snub/insult literally ten thousand of their loyal users?
Seems that they don't care about the local community and local news coverage. They sold out to a big management
corporation and fired nearly all their local staff. They brought in an editor who had little familiarity with Peoria nor did he
seem to have any affinity for it. He made zero effort to hide the fact that his entire push for the PJStar was to make it
nothing more than a banner for DEI & diversity - https://www.pjstar.com/story/opinio...ches-for-perfect-mix-of-diversity/5661037001/
Heck, if a mid-sized city newspaper desperately WANTED to
alienate their readers & subscribers and do the worst job possible so that throngs of subscribers would
cancel they couldn't have done a better job.
It was a cost-saving move, like ending the Saturday paper in 2022, the elimination of home delivery in 2023, and all of the other changes at the PJ Star. It allowed them to cut the jobs of the people who set up and operated the internet forums.
Not many newspapers have internet message boards like the PJS had, none of which made any money. And now that they are run by Gannett, they were forced to eliminate all non-essential jobs, and cut costs to the bone.
Not many newspapers have internet message boards like the PJS had, none of which made any money. And now that they are run by Gannett, they were forced to eliminate all non-essential jobs, and cut costs to the bone.
BengalFan14
New member
Wow. Paper goes under because of a desire for the staff to reflect community? DEI is to blame? Let me ask - what has any of us done to increase BU enrollment? Engagement? Influence what the PJS reports in Peoria? Nothing? Didn’t think so.
can't speak for everyone else, but cancelling subscriptions and telling them how bad their product is probably had a whole lot to do with their
failing and why they fired so many "reporters" and "sports editors" who were doing such comically poor jobs.
But they appear not to have learned from their failures. Half their "news" stories are about restaurants and their new menus, or which local homes sold for a $million. Meanwhile, there was a murder plot at the Peoria jail & an arrest for a local murder that the PJS doesn't mention.
On the sports side, never any real news on local sports, game results or any actual sports reporting, except Rivermen. Just a bunch of speculation and sports-babble:
Here are the top headline sports stories:
Rivermen announce 20 special jerseys
What's the worst case scenario for Illinois football
What's the best case scenario for Illinois football
High school football predictions
Illinois football's three most important games of 2024
How will Illinois football finish
Thankfully we have Jim Mattson & Kurt Pegler or we wouldn't even know there were any local sports competitions or events at all.